


The Birdsong Before the Dawn

by elrhiarhodan



Series: Birdsong [3]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Bisexuality, Coming Out, F/M, Family Counts, Father-Son talk, Jarrison, JellyQuest, Kissing, M/M, Secret Relationship, Slash, Tumblr Prompt, Two Adults in an Adult Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-08-29 06:42:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8479186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elrhiarhodan/pseuds/elrhiarhodan
Summary: It's a quiet Saturday night, and Joe and Harry are exploring this thing between them.  They are about to head up to bed when their intimacy is interrupted by their speedster children trying to sneak in for their own moment of privacy.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheCowboyArtHistorian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCowboyArtHistorian/gifts).



> Set a few months after [The Silence Between the Birdsong](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6638164), and it's highly recommended that you read that story first.
> 
> A few weeks ago, Thecowboyarthistorian gave me a prompt from the Send Me a Ship meme and asked for Jarrison, but I couldn't figure out how to make that one (Falling in love with their best friend’s partner au) work. So instead, I've written them a bit of Jarrison with a side of JellyQuest from the Birdsong 'verse.

Joe sighs, eyes more than half-closed. He's slightly aware that the movie has ended, but he's more aware of his lover's head on his shoulder, his lover's hand burrowing under his shirt.

_Who would have thought that Harry Wells, bad-ass pulse-rifle toting scientist, was a cuddler?_

Not that Joe minds. After twenty-plus years of doing without, Joe relishes this easy physical affection. After Francine had left, there had been too many nights when he'd ached for even the casual skin-to-skin contact he'd had with his wife. It hadn't just been the sex he'd missed – although the sex had been good – Joe had longed for simple human closeness they'd shared, even when times were bad. Rolling over in the morning and finding the miracle of companionship in the bed next to you.

Not that Harry ever spends the night. Jesse would ask questions and Joe isn't really ready for Wally to know that he's romantically involved with another man. There are things he's just not so sure about with his son, and this is one of them.

"You awake?" Harry moves his hand so his thumb rests against Joe's nipple and strokes it lazily, the action more of a question than a demand.

"Awake enough." Joe turns his head and meets those incredible blue eyes. They are as half-lidded as his own.

Joe smiles and kisses Harry. Their desire is like a warm, soft blanket instead of an urgent tide. Harry kisses him back, he tastes of scotch and pizza – probably just like Joe, himself, does. And Joe doesn't mind. There's something to be said for the aphrodisiac qualities of good scotch and pizza.

The couch, deep and wide, easily accommodates two full-sized adults, and soon enough, Joe has Harry beneath him and their kisses are proceeding nicely to something more intense. Harry has both hands on Joe's ass and is diligently applying the laws of physics. _Force equals mass times acceleration_. Joe remembers that much from high school science.

Joe thinks about suggesting that they take this upstairs. While the couch is definitely comfortable, he doesn't keep either lube or condoms nearby, and there is no way he'd ever be able to let the kids sit on this knowing that he and Harry had fucked here.

Harry is sucking hickies into Joe's neck and the way their erections rubs made it hard to think. But he does actually manage to ask, "Upstairs?" 

"Mmmm, there's a bed up there, right?"

Joe swallows a laugh. "Several, including mine."

"Can't stay the night though."

"I know." Joe swallows a sigh. It's not that Harry's hiding this relationship, he just doesn't want his daughter to feel that she's not the most important person in his life. "It's early." Joe glances over at the clock on the cable box - it's not even eleven-thirty yet. Wally won't be home for a few hours - it's Saturday night, after all. "We've got plenty of time."

"Okay." Harry somehow manages to get out from under him and off the couch first - he's as flexible as a teenager and has the sex-drive to go along with that. He holds out a hand to Joe and pulls him up.

Joe takes advantage - Harry might be leaner, harder, more flexible, but Joe's got the advantage of muscle mass and momentum. He captures Harry in his arms and resumes kissing him, backing him up towards the stairs. Harry's got his hands back under Joe's sweater and gets it off. Joe returns the favor. 

They are both naked from the waist up and halfway up the stairs when disaster strikes. In the form of two speedsters trying to sneak into the house.

"Dad!" That's Jesse and she shrieks and speed-dresses her father. 

"Dad?" Wally's a bit more composed and just hands Joe his sweater. Joe puts it on without comment.

Harry recovers first and he manages to shift from lover to outraged father in a heartbeat. "Jesse Wells, what are you doing?"

Jesse doesn't answer. Instead, she glances over at Wally."

Joe steps in. "Son?"

Wally, to his credit, man's up. "We wanted a little privacy. We saw lights on at Harry and Jesse's place and came over here. It was dark, we thought you'd gone over there."

"We weren't going to _do_ anything." Jesse sniffs. "Unlike the two of you."

Harry replies, "We're adults." 

Joe thinks that sometimes Harry Wells knows nothing about how to talk to his daughter. But he's not going to interfere.

"I'm nineteen, Dad. If I'm old enough to risk my life saving people, I'm old enough to make my own decisions about my body."

Joe waits for Harry to go nuclear. He doesn't. 

"Yes, you are. But you are also old enough to know better than to sneak around."

"So are you." Jesse's got her hands on her hips and Joe's not sure he understands the dynamics. "I though you'd turned over a new leaf, Dad. About _everything_."

In the dim light, Joe is surprised to see Harry turn beet-red. "I have."

"Then do you care to explain this?" Jesse point at Joe. "This isn't sneaking around?"

Harry puts his foot down. "This conversation is over, Jesse Wells. We are going home, now."

Joe sees Wally nod and Jesse wrinkles her nose in annoyance. She goes to the door, but to Joe's shock, Harry doesn't follow. Instead, Harry goes to Joe and cups his hand on his cheek before sliding it around to the back of Joe's neck. He pulls him close and kisses him gently. 

Joe stands there, feeling like he's just been hit by a small caliber bullet. He swallows and manages to ask, "See you tomorrow?"

Harry smiles and there is a hint of mischief there. "You can count on that."

The two Wells leave, the door shutting behind them with a quiet finality. Joe can feel Wally's eyes burning a hole in his back. He flips on the overhead lights and goes to the couch without a word. Wally follows and drops into the chair.

The silence is a little oppressive, but Joe hasn't spent nearly thirty years as a cop - not to mention twenty-plus years as dad-cop - to crack under the pressure of filial discomfort.

Wally, of course, breaks first with the question that Joe's expecting. "You're gay?"

Joe corrects him, "Bisexual."

Wally nods, processing the information. "Did mom know?"

Joe isn't surprised at the question, but it still hurts. "No. And the issues your mother and I had had nothing to do with this. I never stepped out on her. The world was very different twenty years ago."

"So you weren't on the downlow?"

Anger flares in his tone for the first time. "Use that word again, Wallace West, and I'll wash your mouth with soap."

Wally holds up his hands in mild defense. "Sorry, Dad. I - this is really - kind of a shock."

Joe understands, and explains. "Harry Wells is the first man I've been with since before I met your mother. He's the first _person_ I've been with since Francine left."

"Can I ask, how long?" Wally's tone is quiet and to Joe's relief, respectful.

"A few months - since April."

Wally smiles, "I should have figured - you were both wearing rainbow beanies for Passover."

"Not beanies. Yarmulkes - or _kippahs_. But I was really just sending out a signal. Had no idea if Harry was the least bit interested. I'd hoped, but…" Joe smiles at the memory of their post-Seder walk in the park.

Wally's next comment startles Joe out of that recollection. "Jesse says her dad's a bit of a slut."

"Wally!" Joe has no idea where that's coming from.

"Yeah, that's what she told me. He's got a bad reputation. A real 'wham-bam-thank-you' - but well, not 'ma'am'. Apparently as soon as Jesse graduated high school, Harry started screwing around. Jesse says that he never dated the same guy twice."

Joe didn't know this and it doesn't matter to him. "He's a different man now."

"It does matter if he's going to break your heart, Dad."

The hard knot under Joe's breastbone unravels. Wally's issues aren't with his sexuality. He hadn't thought that his son is homophobic or bi-phobic, but until this moment, he hadn't been sure. "Harry won't break my heart."

"Why? Because this is just a fling?" The question's reasonable.

Joe shakes his head. "No, son, it's not a fling. It's very real. It's just something I know." Joe's not bullshitting his son. "We're … good together." He's hesitant to tell Wally that he and Joe love each other. They haven't exactly admitted it to themselves yet.

But Wally, miraculously, seems to understand. "Okay, but if he hurts you, I'll shove him through the breach and won't let him come back."

"Won't Jesse have something to say about that?"

"I think she'll help."

Joe grins and somehow, doesn't doubt it. "So, we're okay?"

Wally grins back. "Yeah, of course we are." He tilts his head and looks at Joe. "You know, I've noticed that there's been something different about you since the spring. You seem a lot happier. A lot more relaxed."

Joe shrugs. "Don't know if that's all Harry. It's mostly knowing that all my kids are safe and happy."

Wally shakes his head. "Nah - it's Harry. And if he makes you happy like this, then that's all that counts."

Joe wonders if he should say something about Wally sneaking Jesse into the house, but decides that his son deserves some respect, not a lecture. But he's still a dad, and as a dad, he asks, "You're using protection, right?"

Wally blushes, "We're speedsters, Dad - we can't get pregnant."

Joe's not so sure about that. "Well, just be careful. I'm not ready to be a grandfather, yet. And I don't think Harry is, either."

"Okay, okay - but…"

"But nothing, son. You need to be responsible."

Wally shakes his head, but it's clear that he's gotten Joe's message.

Joe gets up. "Might as well go to bed." Wally follows him upstairs but before they head to their own rooms, Wally stops him.

"Um, Dad?"

"Yeah, son?"

"Next time you and Harry decide to get busy, you might want to put a sock on the doorknob, or something."

Joe chuckles. "Yeah, right. Or something."

__

FIN

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to follow me at my tumblr [Obscene Circus Ponies](http://elrhiarhodan.tumblr.com/), or on my old school (and much beloved) [LiveJournal](http://elrhiarhodan.livejournal.com/) account.


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